Why Was I Here?

Why was I here? Well, I was originally here because it was a requirement for my major, but when the first day of class came around and I got to learn more about what topics this course would cover, I understood I was here to become more educated about being a citizen and what citizenship truly is. I was here to gain understanding that being a citizen means giving people equal chances and treatment to enforce the strength in our communities. In terms of what was expected for my writing, I was a little nervous that I would have to work much harder and that the expectations would be a lot higher as well, which was true, but I ended up becoming a better writer who could be more complex and use strategical techniques to better support my stance and claims.  I also learned about writing and how each strategy affects the overall tone of the essay and the credibility of the writer. This class has also helped me learn how to better develop my stance about arguments and defend my reasons for why people should care about my argument.
Coming from high school, while we did write research papers that sometimes reached fifteen pages, I hadn’t been asked to do research about a topic and create my own thesis based off my own stance. While I did have an argument, each paper was a literary analysis, so drafting my own thesis even in Unit 1 was a little more difficult and took a few tries to get it right. After taking time to figure out to better establish my own ideas into a thesis, I realized that I am becoming a better and more versatile writer, considering I’m more comfortable writing different types of essays now. I also learned about writing and how each strategy affects the overall tone of the essay and the credibility of the writer.
Looking back at myself before I was in Citizens!, I would tell myself to pay more attention to what’s going on in the world, and to take more part in her community. I would also tell her that it’s okay to take part in political discussions and civil discourse, because those discussions are what will help you learn more about how to deal with people and disagreements,  but they most likely will help you change perspectives or consider different ideas. I used to avoid talking about politics because I hated when people would get upset or defensive because they felt that I was challenging their views, even though that was never my intention. I have since then learned that it’s better to have those discussions, because it might help who I’m speaking with even if it doesn’t help me.

After this course, I would like to think that I am more aware of citizenship and what I should do as a citizen to enforce egalitarianism. I am going to be more conscientious about what I read and look into where/who it comes from, and I am planning on reading more about current events in relation to citizenship in general. I am very glad to have taken this class and I’m grateful to have had the experience I did.  

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